Upbeat Daniels touts his goals

Speaking to Warrick County Republicans on Wednesday night, Gov. Mitch Daniels touted his past accomplishments and outlined future goals for his administration, including full-day kindergarten, health care for the uninsured and increased funding for higher education.

Daniels, who was serving as keynote speaker at the Warrick Republican Lincoln Day Dinner at the Rolling Hills Country Club, encouraged optimism from the party as it works toward his legislative agenda.

He cautioned party faithful,

though, to not be dismayed by people who do not share his vision for change.

"We have to reach those people and infect them with our excitement," he said. "They are our fellow citizens, and we are out to serve them. It is our task to reach them and to make them see the same bright future we do."

Daniels' speech, which event officials believe marked the first time a sitting governor spoke at the annual dinner, drew 200 people and raised about $8,000 for the county GOP - its biggest fundraiser for the year.

Of that amount, $220 was raised just before the speech began when, as part of a local Lincoln Dinner tradition, Daniels' tie was auctioned off to the highest bidder.

Warrick County Treasurer Charlie Christmas said it was a good sign for the region just to have Daniels travel to Newburgh.

"It's a great thing to have somebody come all the way from the Statehouse, especially the top executive of the state," he said. "That shows he's interested in us down here. He's interested in what happens in Southern Indiana."

During the speech, Daniels divided his administration's goals into three categories that he said sum up his vision for the future, including leaner, cleaner government, solving problems without raising taxes and "in-sourcing with a vengeance."

He told the crowd he is confident full-day kindergarten will begin statewide this year, and he vowed to continue pushing for a cigarette tax to pay for immunizations and health care for the uninsured.

That, he told the crowd with a touch of partisan humor, was not a violation of his stance against raising taxes.

"I would be for raising the cigarette tax if the money went to Massachusetts," Daniels said. "Strike that - Kansas."

He also talked about his work so far, noting he balanced the budget, reformed welfare and brought new jobs and businesses into the state at a record pace. The latter, he said, will continue to be a hallmark of his administration.

"We will travel the world as we have already done," he said. "We will go anywhere where people might invest a dollar to put Hoosiers to work."

Although Daniels did not specifically mention Interstate 69, he did wear a pin in the shape of an I-69 highway sign on his suit coat and talked about it before the speech.

He said it is a concern that the budget passed by the House of Representatives and did not include funding for I-69, but it remains a top priority.

"The budget passed by the opposition party has zero dollars for I-69, and that will need to be fixed," he said. "We're going to build that road, and if there are those there who are still unreconciled to that, we'll just have to bring them along."

Steve Polley, former chairman of the Warrick Republican Party and master of ceremonies for the dinner, echoed those sentiments, calling it a "major issue" that Warrick County and the rest of Southwestern Indiana does not have a direct highway to Indianapolis.

But Polley said he is pleased both with Daniels' plan to build it and with his administration as a whole.

"I think he's probably one of the best governors that I've ever witnessed," Polley said. "He's progressive, he works outside the box. He's willing to break out of the mold and take bold steps."

"You have to be confident by looking at his record," Hermann said. "He's got quite a bit done. That makes me confident about what he can get done and the initiatives he can get through the Legislature."